Alabama

Mobile port continues Isaac prep

MOBILE, Alabama -- The Alabama State Port Authority has removed three barge haul units at Pinto Terminal in preparation for Tropical Storm Isaac.

The units, valued at $2.5 million each, guide barges controlled by the crane operator during ship unloading operations. Each crane can control a barge haul unit and move the unit in tandem with the crane as the crane moves from hatch to hatch on the ship.

Without the units, the system would require unloading operations to stop and manpower to untether the barge, move the barge, re-tie it and then resume operations, according to port authority spokesperson Judy Adams.

So far this year, the Pinto Terminal has handled about 2.5 million tons of imported carbon steel slab for ThyssenKrupp.